2018 ON POINT PINOT GRIGIO

This wine is named as a tribute to Trevor and Marilyn’s two granddaughters, in acknowledgement of their passion and excellence in ballet and dancing. It’s play on the French ballet term ‘en pointe’, to stand on ones toes in full extension – no easy feat – and something both granddaughters can do with ease and grace.

After back to back sell-out successes for both our inaugural 2016 and following 2017 vintages, our 2018 vintage of On Point Pinot Grigio has been created, as always, by carefully focusing on our ability to deliver the correct style and ripeness obtainable from our Eden Valley vines.

We bottle our Pinot Grigio as soon as possible, capturing all the freshness of the 2018 growing season. Gentle blossom and honeysuckle aromas lead to delicate tropical notes. Fresh flavours of nectarine, pear and lime race across the palate, supported by natural minerality. There is soft mouthfeel and balanced acidity that seem to make the flavours last for days.

The difference between Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio…

Both wines are made from the same Pinot Gris grape – the difference comes in the wine making technique. The Italian style Pinot Grigio style wines are typically lighter-bodied, crisp, fresh, with vibrant stone fruit and floral aromas and a touch of spice. A superb summer wine! In contrast, the French Pinot Gris style wines are more full-bodied, richer, spicier, and more viscous in texture. We make ours in the Italian Grigio style, purely because that’s the way Trevor prefers it.

After back to back sell-out successes for both our inaugural 2016 and following 2017 vintages, our 2018 vintage of On Point Pinot Grigio has been created by carefully focusing on our ability to deliver the correct style and ripeness obtainable from our Eden Valley vines.

We bottle our Pinot Grigio as soon as possible, capturing all the freshness of the 2018 growing season.

Gentle blossom and honeysuckle aromas lead to delicate tropical notes.

Fresh flavours of nectarine, pear and lime race across the palate, supported by natural minerality.

There is soft mouthfeel and balanced acidity that seem to make the flavours last for days.

The growing season in Eden Valley started off well, with Winter 2017 rainfall up slightly higher than average.

In Spring drier soils, combined with warmer than average Spring days meant the vine canopies grew quickly; flowering well and setting a good number of bunches.

Summer rainfall in EV was down on average. January and February were warm and dry, with very warm temperatures in February slowing down the pace of ripening. With the lower summer rainfall, growers with access to water, soil moisture monitoring, good irrigation management and healthy soils experienced less stress – and subsequently delivered sound fruit and consistent yields. These are all practices that Brockenchack invest heavily into. The Indian summer of March and early April was what some people are calling ‘the icing on the cake’, with average temperatures, without extremes.

We commenced hand picking for the 2018 vintage on the 1st of March with our Pinot Noir the first grapes to come off the vine. Pinot Grigio and Riesling were then machine packed in the first week of March. Chardonnay and Rosé came off next around mid March. Shiraz harvesting commenced in the last week of March and continued through to the 11th of April with each tier being picked at different times. The last two to come off the vines were the Grenache on the 11th, and we wrapped it up with the Cabernet on the 12th of April – seeing out an amazing vintage for Brockenchack.

We are delighted with the high-quality grapes and great yields that this vintage delivered. The colours and flavours in our reds are exciting and the high level of natural acids in our whites reflect our great Eden Valley characteristics.

Standout varieties for the Eden Valley this year include Riesling, Chardonnay, Shiraz, Grenache and Cabernet. We are very excited for all our 2018 wines to be released, and especially look forward to the release of these reds in a few years’ time.